The final round of the Open Championship is underway at Royal Liverpool in the United Kingdom. Watching this tournament is always a highlight of the golf viewing year. It’s the final major for one reason. Another, is that it’s the vast course and condition differences as compared to the United States.
Recently, television coverage is finally starting to change a bit offering new options. As coverage continues to evolve and move forward, so can your viewing experience. Like most years, Saturday and Sunday morning of the Open Championship equal the pleasure of getting up and going right to the television for major championship golf viewing. However, this year I was checking out the Open Championship website and noticed the par-3 channel.
I watched the vast amount of the coverage on Saturday and felt it was absolutely brilliant. I can try to best describe It as like having a local as your tour guide taking you around town when you are overseas versus just hitting the tried and true tourist stops on your own. The local commentators really make the experience so much better than the normal major network coverage mostly because it feels authentic and frankly more immersive. Additionally, as viewers of the Par-3 channel, we got to see all the groups come through much like we would see if we took a seat at any golf tournament.
Going back to the commentators, their banter and wit as the best players in the world tried to navigate the short but tough 17th hole was cracking as they might say. Just a few of the nuggets from Saturday’s coverage included:
- A couple minutes discussing what they would fill up the claret jug with if they were to win the open. Answers included wine, Guinness, and even cider. They even made beverage predictions for a couple of the players making their way through number 17 at the time.
- Several minutes of witty banter as the television coverage focused on dogs running and playing along the beach
- They took the time to try to name an area left of the green that when found by players meant a most certain bogey or worse. One of the more memorable names was “the valley of doom.”
Whether you catch the par-3 channel coverage at The Open Championship today or not. Make sure to check out all the websites of the major championships. There are more viewing options than ever. The experience is absolutely different and arguably a lot more immersive than the tried and true television coverage.